This is the first Sunday morning after THE RACE. Translation: The first Sunday back to normal. No more getting up at 5 AM. Oh, strike that. I forgot about our dogs Foghorn and Leghorn. Except calling them that is unfair to roosters – at least roosters have the decency to wait for the sun to start to come up.

For the past four months of my life, Sunday morning has consisted of getting up, getting breakfast in really early so it has time to do what breakfast is supposed to do before running, then driving out to some running path somewhere in the city. And that’s been okay, in fact I’ve enjoyed it. And if that were a Saturday morning routine I’d be even happier with it. And I think I’d be more okay with Saturday mornings not being the same than Sundays not being the same. So I’m glad to have my Sundays back.

I had come to really enjoy my Sunday mornings. It’s been a get up with the dobs, kick back and read the paper, have a leisurely breakfast and head out to church kind of thing. And there was something just… glorious… about not having to rush out the door to be at some nasty hilly place by 7 AM. Now on our shorter runs we’d still have time to get to church, on the longer runs we tried to get out Saturday nights, but that just wasn’t the same. So, am I bad for being really really happy to have my Sundays back?

AND…. my Sunday even included a run! Yes, it was a shorter run. I still love calling 2 miles a ‘shorter’ run. I feel like such an athlete! It was my first actual run since the half marathon, and it felt amazing. It was a ‘why did you wait this long to run again???’ kind of amazing. But maybe when it feels that amazing, it was just the right amount of time? I don’t know, but it was good to get out again.

So I resorted to a couch to 5k workout for this morning’s run. But I guess it was with my own little twist. I walked 5 minutes, THEN started the 5 minute warmup with a jog. Then I’d run a minute, jog (not walk) a minute and a half, repeating that 8 times, finally walking the 5 minute cool down. My runs felt more like runs than they have when doing the half marathon training. This was actually maybe just the right time for each interval, as I had to push myself pretty good but it wasn’t so much of an overdo it kind of pushing. It was the kind that I was breathing pretty hard by the end of the one minute runs, but I felt good that I could slow it to a jog and not have to walk, and be able to recover by the start of the next run section. My C25K app told me my run sections averaged an 11:26 pace which I was pretty happy with. It’s by no means a sprint and a far cry from what I could do long, long ago, but… it felt good to be able to do it and keep it up through the whole workout.

I did end up deciding that I’m going to work on the 5K instead of pushing into another half marathon by the end of the year. In a way the decision was made for me, the Fa La La half that I was looking at is on December 7. This week I found out our company Christmas get together will be December 7. Now of course the half marathon is in the morning, so it’s not like I couldn’t do both, but I don’t want to be dragging through the get together either.

So, instead, I’m doing the Jingle Bell run, which is the same weekend. I think for the first time I’m going to have an actual goal, I want this to feel like it was actually kinda fast, you know? I think I’m at that point now where I can work like this morning’s workout and be able to concentrate on being able to do more of a run and less of a jog. And I think from there I want to build on that into longer runs again, building maybe to a spring half marathon, and then doing a full marathon by the end of next year. Seems lofty enough, yes?

And of course, if I’m doing the Jingle Bell run, I have to do it right. No more shaving for a couple months. After all, this may be the last year I got enough weight on me to be able to pull off the Santa look, may have to take advantage of that while I can. Maybe if I can get all the kids to run with me in formation, they could wear antlers, be the reindeer – we may not win the age groups but maybe we can win the costume prize!

Anyway, enough of that. It’s time to enjoy the rest of a normal Sunday morning.

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About Ron Walter

I'm just a guy who was so out of shape he couldn't run to get out of the rain. I'm taking my life back. It's not always perfect, not always successful. The victories though are greater than the defeats. I plan to keep it that way.